Aesthetics of Information Visualization

“Beyond the technically challenging questions of how data can be mapped are the questions of why one should map the textual or numerical into the visual. By asking why, this chapter provides an art historical and philosophical context for understanding information visualization projects undertaken as artistic research. Specifically, the question to be addressed concerns the formulation of an aesthetics of information visualization: What is the critical, artistic value of works in information visualization? Aesthetics, as a field of inquiry, examines issues of sensation and perception and seeks to understand why something is â€” or why some group of people finds something to be — emotionally, sensually moving. What is beautiful, ugly, awe-inspiring, emotionally overwhelming, scary or comforting? (For a contemporary overview of the field of aesthetics, see Michael Kelly (editor), Encyclopedia of Aesthetics, 1998.) So, to inquire about the aesthetics of information visualization is to investigate the judgment used to decide what about the work is valuable, according to the senses or, in general, the body…”